Rubens: A Portrait

The most popular painter of his day, yet an artist whose reputation has fluctuated among art scholars and critics of the succeeding centuries, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) is chiefly remembered today for his large canvases of sensual gardens, religious scenes, and voluptuous "Rubenesque" women. In Oppenheimer's account of his life, Rubens emerges not only as a

Overview

The most popular painter of his day, yet an artist whose reputation has fluctuated among art scholars and critics of the succeeding centuries, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) is chiefly remembered today for his large canvases of sensual gardens, religious scenes, and voluptuous "Rubenesque" women. In Oppenheimer's account of his life, Rubens emerges not only as a talented painter but also as an intellectual with a unique conception of beauty that proved very influential and ahead of his time. Oppenheimer explores Rubens' ideas as he tells the story of his life, which included years as a diplomat, and illuminates his response to the humanism of the Renaissance in which he lived.

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Countering the current unfashionable status of this Flemish Renaissance artist (1577-1640), Oppenheimer (comparative medieval literature, English, and history of science, City U. of New York) provides sociopolitical context in arguing that Rubens' sensual style and "aesthetics of motion" presaged modern sensibilities. The book includes color plates of notable paintings including , and translations of family letters. This is a reprint of a 1999 work published by Duckworth Publishers (London, England). Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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Meet the Author

Paul Oppenheimer , professor of Comparative Medieval Literature and English at the City College of the City University of New York and author of Infinite Desire: A Guide to Modern Guilt, lives in New York City.